The Promises of Tomorrow
by Seffie Elaine
Summary: Aerith tends to her flowers while calming a frustrated Zack who would like to tear his way out of the lifestream. - Set after Aerith sells Cloud her flowers, but before Sector 7 is dropped.


"Aerith, are you sure there's nothing we can do. . . ?" Zack wasn't used to being merely a thought, an almost meaningless whim apart of a larger whole, but he found himself still existing, burning just as brightly all the same.

"We're just a piece of the puzzle." Aerith' voice was like the air, moving in time with the lifestream as if it were a natural extension of the planet itself. "We've been fit into place, as was meant to be, and now we must wait for all the other pieces to align."

For a moment the sadness in her voice made Zack feel badly for insisting on bringing up his favorite subject once again, but as he looked up toward her to say his peace her eyes seemed to draw him in. It was as if they were telling the story of what was to come. Bitter sadness, loss. A group of people coming together for a noble cause, but bringing horrible despair in their wake. Reno, fire in his eyes as he crawls just a little bit farther from the path of sanity, trying to right a massive wrong with another. Sephiroth, still alive, as Zack already knew, would soon he would find a way to bring even more chaos to a situation already out of control. Zack had to look away at that point. He couldn't stand to see his friends fighting any longer.

"Why. . . ? Does it have to be this way?" Zack was ready to fight. Pull his way out of the lifestream with his bare hands and find a way to fix every misunderstanding and right every wrong that was going to occur, perhaps even before it could happen. Aerith merely tilted her head to the side and gave him a smile that told another story. It was one of hope. And as she acted as if to put her hand down on his, Zack felt a calming wave come over him, despite himself.

"Zack, that's not the end, you know. There is a plan, even if it doesn t seem likely."

"But Aerith, you already know. . . You're going to die too. So what's the game? Damn it, how is this going to make anything better?" She was his lifeline. His only link to the world, and him the strongest link she had to the planet. His was the voice she heard most clearly, beside her mother's. Zack never saw her, though he wasn't sure he wanted to. The Cetra didn't seem to understand that between being alive and being dead that there was an actual difference, and that existence outside the lifestream was preferable by far. In reality, however, Zack was horribly lonely, and it probably wouldn't have been so bad, or frustrating, if he didn't know there was a battle that needed to be waged below, when all he had was a front row seat for the show.

"Zack, they're going to be okay. Cloud is going to step into your shoes. Fill them quite nicely, I might add." She gave him a wink, right then before continuing. "You're not the only one who looks handsome in a ShinRa uniform."

Zack normally would have been at least slightly amused, but all he could manage to do was grumble something about 'if you like him so much, maybe you should marry him' half-heartedly, before being able to come up with his next point. "What about Reno. . . ?" His eyes fell to the floor and there was something beyond pain in his expression. "He's going to lose himself, and there's nothing I'll be able to do to help bring him back."

"You underestimate him. Everyone has their dark moments." She didn't want to sound too harsh, or make Zack feel like he was even more meaningless than he already felt, so she quickly continued with her explanation. "Yes, you could be there to help him, but then how would he ever learn? Maybe someday he'll grow up and want to help the planet himself. . ."

"Bullshit." Her statement had cheered him up, but not in the way intended. "That chain smoking, red-headed, son of a bitch wouldn't ever give a crap about anything so noble." He grinned, thinking about it. "Maybe if he thought it would help him get into Rude's pants, but somehow I doubt that's on Rude's top list of turn-on s."

Aerith giggled lightly into her hand. "Perhaps you're right, but you never know. Either way, old friend, I'm afraid you're stuck here. No amount of bellyaching is going to get you out." Her smile could have lit the way down a dark forest path. "Don't worry, I'll be joining you soon. It won't be so lonely then, right?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." Zack batted at her head, playfully, even if he knew she couldn't feel a thing. "What happened to the girl I knew, with the list of twenty-three small things she wanted? You can't tell me your list is done!"

Aerith then did a somewhat peculiar thing. She looked up at Zack, giving him a sly grin, matching any of the best of his own. "I've done all but one."

"All but one? Really?"

"Yes, Zack. I've known this was going to happen for a while now." She grinned at him as if he were an ignorant child, causing Zack to become taken aback.

"Well, yeah, I know that but. . . You have to tell me! We'll make it happen, whatever it is, since I know you're not going to listen to reason on this whole, dying thing." Sarcasm oozed in his voice, though the pure curiosity also shown through.

Somehow her grin widened even more. "Well, what I want. . ." She paused for effect, watching with glee as he leaned in even more closely to her in anticipation. She worked her hands as if to bring him up to cup his face in her hands, even though both of them knew such things weren't really possible. ". . . is to be with you again. You make me remember iwhy/i everything is going to be okay." She looked up at him with pure adoration, even though she moved her fingers into a tsking motion. "It's not easy being the last of your race. It leaves a certain. . . responsibility resting on your shoulders." She changed her smile to an outright grin. "That's your gift to this world, I suppose. You allow everyone to forget themselves and just enjoy life, if even just for a few minutes."

Zack blinked at her, not knowing what to say. If what she just said should be taken as the greatest compliment he ever received or if it were a slam just the same.

She laughed at the confused expression on his face and decided maybe it was best if she just made it clear and simple. "I want to go on a vacation, and I want to take it with you. Is that clear enough for you?"

"Clear as day, ma'am! We'll go to Costa Del Sol and spy on the locals together! I iknow/i how you like those tan men in their bikinis. We both know your favorite part of me isn't my face." Zack's grin somehow seemed to exceed the amount of space on his face altogether. "I guess I shouldn't tease you too much. I'm sure I'll be in for it when you get here." Despite himself, he was almost seeing how Aerith joining the planet in the lifestream might be not so bad after all.

Aerith smiled. Her work for that day was done, as Zack seemed to be calm once again. She looked up around her, blinking as her eyes became used to the cold stone walls of the church she loved to inhabit. She knew she had been tending to her flowers for hours, while day dreaming about those separated from her by intangible boundaries. "Good bye for now, Zack. I'll see you again tomorrow." It was as if she could see his smile echoed in the flower's open, cheerful blooms.

As Aerith stepped outside of the church another familiar, though stoic face, seemed to have an aura of contentment surrounding him."You spoke with him again?" Tseng asked, relating the bright expression on her face to mean that it wasn't the Cetra who were speaking to her today.

"Mmhmm." She hummed her reply, smile still tightly bound to her lips. "I think he's beginning to calm down. . . Though he still obviously misses you all." She tilted her head sideways and gave Tseng a mischievous grin. "He speaks very highly of you. I think it's a little more than just a crush."

She turned away grinning, not even needing to see his reply. "So, will you be escorting me home, again Mr. Tseng?" She asked and turned around once again. Pulling his arm around hers, she gave him a shameless smile as she started dragging him away toward her house.

A small smile pulled at the edge of Tseng's lips, though it was barely evident. "I now understand where you learned your manners. Remind me to reprimand Mr. Fair iif/i I ever return to the lifestream."

Aerith laughed lightly, something off in the distance seeming to catch her attention, though there really wasn't anything there. "Somehow, I don't think that's going to be for a long, long while."

A/N: So there you go! Yes, my Aerith knows what is going to happen to her before well before she dies, so it's understandable if some of you don't like it, but I don't think it's really quite an AU either, considering to what extremes she goes to try to appear normal throughout her life. Like she says above, I think she just has the ability to see everything from a different perspective as parts to a puzzle that will end with everyone 'in the promised land' sooner or later.

Lemme know what you think! I'd love to hear whatever you have to say~ And let me know if you want to read more! 


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